Music can have a soothing — or motivating — effect on your kids

Have you ever entered a doctor’s waiting room to hear cartoons blasting, loud chatter, phones beeping, and handheld games playing? Ever feel overwhelmed in those moments? Even the most sophisticated adults can feel overstimulated in noisy and chaotic environments, so consider how young children feel.

More importantly, the sound and noise level in your own home helps determine the stress factor. Creating a soothe and calm environment depends a lot on the sound influence. By intentionally using music as a tool, you can set or reset the tone of your home. Here are 5 ways how:

Homework time: Playing some soothing tunes in the background while deciphering math problems is not only soothing but aids in brain stimulation. Known as the Mozart Effect, listening to music not only increases cognitive function in general, but also specifically aids in performing mathematical computations, in particular, spatial-temporal reasoning.

Clean up: Looking to find a fun way to clean up before or after dinner? Try a musical cue. By putting on a song that the kids enjoy, you will help get little hands in the mood to pitch in. If you play the same song each day but specifically for clean-up time only, you soon won’t even need to tell the kids that it’s time to tidy up. Once they hear the first few notes of the song, they will spring into action.

Explore topics: What older kids listen to might reflect what they are thinking, but it also might just be a song that they really enjoy because it’s popular or has a good beat. You don’t know until you ask. Talking about lyrics is an awesome way to broach subjects, and even art and writing and life in general. Get to know what your kids listen to without feeling the need to censor them all the time. And don’t be afraid to introduce them to the songs you like and explain why. Some of the best times with my kids have been deciphering the lyrics of a song.

Get moving: Who says you need to do a formal and boring exercise routine every day? Turn up the tunes and dance. Show the kids your fun side and get them moving at the same time. It’s not only incredibly fun, it’s an activity that helps release the day’s stress and reinvigorates you and your kids for the rest of the day.

No more television: You don’t need to come home and mindlessly turn on the television. The noise from a blaring television can quickly become grating and does not usher in tranquility. On the contrary, when you walk in the door and turn on some music, you instantly set a soothing mood.

Danielle Sullivan is a writer living in New York City. Follow her on Instagram @Deewrite.